Electric battery



(No Model.)

D. M. LAMB.

ELECTRIC BATTERY.

No. 461,025. Patented Oct. 13, 1891.:-

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@y aZrn/eya @eM www UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL M. LAMB, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

ELECTRIC BATTERY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 461,025, dated October 13, 1891. Application filed July 23, 1890. Renewed May 26, 1891. Serial No. 394,132. (No model.)

To LZZ wwntit may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL MARTIN LAMB, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Batteries,of which the following is a specification My invention more especially relates to a composition employed in working the battery, which constitutes an improvement upon the battery described in my pendingapplications, Serial No. 332,992, filed December '7, 1889, and Serial No. 347,386, iiled April 10, 1890. Both of these applications describe a composition consisting of ingredients in the form of powder enveloped with a water-repellent substance.

My invention further consists of an improved organization of the cells of a battery.

Thile the proportions of myimproved compound may be varied within certain limits without departing from the spirit of my invention and well-known chemical equivalents may be substituted, I prefer as the result of my experiments the following ingredients, treated in the way hereinafter described, to wit: Sixteen ounces of blue clay and eight ounces of calcined gypsum, powdered and mixed together as a base, all the otheringre` dients being likewise pulverized or granulated. Over this base I sift sixteen ounces of granulated or pulverized sal-ammoniac. I then mix sixteen ounces of bichromate of potash with six ounces of blue-stone or sulphate of copper and sift them over the other ingredients. These ingredients are then thoroughly mixed, after which I sift over the mixture forty-eight ounces of black oxide of manganese and mix it thoroughly with the other" ingredients I then mix in about twentyseven and one-half ounces of powdered rosin, being about twenty-five per cent., by weight, of all the other ingredients. The mixture is then heated in a proper vessel and thoroughly stirred while being heated, say, to a temperature of about 2120, which is sufficient to melt the resin. This heating and stirring causes the mixture to boil up, swell, or work in such manner that its granules roll over each other, the result being that each granule is separately and thoroughly coated with the rosin,

thus constituting a water-repellent envelope therefor.

I prefer to use clay having the largest attainable percentage of aluminum. This con stitutes what I term one of the positive elements or ingredients, while the negative calcined gypsum is used to separate the particles, but not for any adhesive or setting quality.

In order to carry out my invention in the best manner I have devised a new form of battery-cell, shown in the accompanying drawings, in which i Figure 1 represent-s a plan View of a compound cell consisting of a large jar inclosing a number of cells, each containing its proper elements;` and Fig. 2 a side elevation thereof with one side of the casing broken away to show the internal organization.

Except as otherwise indicated the parts are of usual construction and material. The relative size of the cells and jar is of course varied according to circumstances or the power of voltage required to be developed. The drawings show the containing vessel and cells as cylindrical, which is the form preferred, as it leaves suicient space between them for the composition employed.

The containingvessel or jar A is of a size sufficient to contain the desired number of cups or Icells B, seven being shown, six of which are arranged around the perimeter of the j ar,while the other one occupies its center. Each cell contains a tubular open-ended zinc electrode Z, preferably of a height slightly less than that of the cell; being of somewhat less diameter than the cell, so as to leave a space between them. Ausual binding-screw ,e is attached to each zinc. A carbon rod C, provided with a binding-screw c,of a smaller diameter than the zinc electrode, is inserted within it. This carbon is preferably made in the manner described in my application, Serial No. 347,385, filed April 10, 1890, and is made longer than the jar, the cell, and the zinc, so as to project above then-1. The space between each cell and its electrodes is filled with the composition described, and the space between the cells and containing-vessel may be packed with the same or a similar composition, such as that described in my applica- ICO lro

tions first above mentioned. Thecells and containing-vessel are then iilled with Water, preferably up to the top of the Zinc, and the battery is ready for action. The top should be left open, so as to admit of free -contact With the atmosphere. rIhe cells are connected in series in the usual VWay from zinc to carbon. By this organization I obtain a very high efficiency in a small space, and it is obvious that by increasing the number of cells the voltage developed may be increased to aV practically unlimited extent...V

I claim as of my own inventionl. The combination, substantially as and in about the proportions specied, of clay, calcined gypsum, sal-ammoniac, bichromate of potash, sulphate of copper, black oxide of manganese, and rosin, all pulverized and mixed together, each granule of the com position being l enveloped with Water-repellent material.`

2. The compound battery-cell hereinbefore described, consisting of the combination of a containing-vessel, a series of independent cells therein, each in closing a zinc electrode and a carbon rod, all the electrodes being connected in series and the spaces between them and the cells and the cells and containingvessel being filled With granulated active material having its individual particles each enveloped with water-repellent material.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

DANIEL M. LAMB.

Witnesses:

BALTUs DE LONG, SIDNEY P. HoLnINGsWoRTH. 

